White, by L.C. Mawson: A Review

In my review of Hunt, the first book of the Freya Snow series, I wrote “I’ll be interested to see how Lucy Mawson develops as a writer over the next few years; I think she’s worth watching.” In Snow, the second volume of Freya Snow’s adventures, I am pleased to see that both the author’s writing and the world-building have developed considerably.

In White, which I would describe as Buffy: Vampire Slayer meets Into the Woods, much more of the backstory of Freya’s magical heritage is revealed. Previous characters are more fully realized and new ones introduced, and there is even an undercurrent of romance. There is a stronger element of urban fantasy – at one point Freya visits a magical marketplace hidden in an old building in her town – which reminded me of scenes from early work by Charles de Lint.

There were still a few twists and turns in the plot I either found difficult to follow or thought needed a more thorough explanation. But overall I read White with enjoyment and appreciation, especially liking the way Mawson brought characters and themes from both classic and more modern fairy-tales into Freya’s world. A mermaid with ‘Christian-Anderson syndrome’ had me laughing out loud.

The production quality of the ARC I read was excellent: I noticed neither typos nor formatting errors.

Four stars for White, and I hope the next book in the series is as good.

The author provided me with a pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.